Burke tossed 19.38 meters/63 feet, 7 inches in the M75 weight throw for age-group World and American records on his 76th birthday. The listed record of 16.86/55-3 was set by Bob Ward in 2009.

In all, five records were broken on the first day, as Burke, who owns M70 World and American marks, also broke the American super weight throw record, throwing 10.67m/34-9.

The records continued to fall when W40 multi-eventer Rachel Guest broke the existing pentathlon AR by more than 200 points, scoring 3,737 after five events. She was the day’s top competitor at every discipline, running 9.28 in the 60mH, jumping 1.47m/4-09.75, throwing the shot put 9.34m/30-07.75, leaping 5.17m/16-11.5 in long jump and finishing the 800m in 2:43:49. Outdoors, she also holds the W35 heptathlon record outdoor.

M40 sprinter Antwon Dussett broke the 400m AR after splitting 22.96 at the 200-meter mark to finish in 49.32.

Emma Mcgowan was the fastest W45 in the 400m, as she ran 1.00.01, just off the 59.30 she ran earlier this year to break the standing 59.37 AR.

M90 competitors Dixon Hemphill and Orville Rogers kicked off the men’s 400m races as the 91-year-old Hemphill took the lead heading into the second and final lap. Hemphill finished first in 3:26.05 with 98-year-old Rogers in second at 3:51.91.

After the first day of competition, SoCal Track Club leads team scores with 119 points.

“I have the W35 American record in pentathlon. I broke it twice while I was in that age division. This past summer in Lyon, France, I ended up breaking the W40 heptathlon record by over 1,000 points at the World Masters Athletics Championships, so coming into any championships, I am always looking at where I am and what my possibilities are. I knew that as long as I hit good averages today, I could get it.”

Antwon Dussett, M40 400m Champion

On competing in Albuquerque and managing the altitude

“Over the past few months, I’ve been training with an altitude mask to kind of help get myself get acclimated for here. It felt good running. I knew if I came around the 200-meter mark around 22.5, I would set myself up good for where I wanted to be.”

On what it feels like to break the record

“It feels great! It’s something I’ve been aspiring for the last couple of years that I have been getting closer to the 40-year-olds age group. It’s something that I wanted to do, and we’ll see what happens in the 200 meters next.”